Per Nonnullos Annos
by minnie313
Summary: A story of our favourite Transfiguration genius and her teddy bearish friend, with allusions to their childhood, their teenage years and their adult life… I really don't know what will come of it but hey! we'll see
1. Prologue

**A/N:** Hi everyone! The idea of this couple has been inside my head for quite some time now and I've decided to try to make something of this "obsession". So I've let go of my usual HP ship (ADMM roxxxxx ^^) and begun to write down my annoyingly distracting ideas in the form of a story (which, I hope, this time, I'll be able to finish^^'). It's about Rubeus and Minerva, how they met, what has happened to them before they met (which will come and go as my fantasy and/or my Muse decides), how they came to be together, well, actually the way I imagined it could have been/be, so one way^^

This is AU and will begin pre-HP era but will continue during the second war with Voldie dearest, I still don't know how everything will come or how it will end but I hope whatever comes of this sudden inspiration will be not too bad and that you'll like it^^

**Rating: **T but may rise in later chapters.

**Summary: **A story of our favourite Transfiguration genius and her teddy bearish friend, with allusions to their childhood, their teenage years and their adult life… I really don't know what will come of it but hey! we'll see ^^

**Disclaimer: **As usual, if I owned HP, you wouldn't find this kind of story here, not from me, at least ^^ So, the characters all belong to JKR except a few extras like Nana and Thomas whom you'll soon meet ^^ The story's mine GNAP! ;)

**Prologue:**

The young girl was looking through the glass of the window. She seemed absent. Her head tilted on the side and her unseeing eyes, she looked as if the raindrops falling on the glass were the most interesting thing in the world.

As the auburn haired man looked around the room, his half-moon spectacles firmly perched on his aquiline nose, he could see the corpses and the blood, some of which covered the young girl. Far away, thunder rolled and the otherwise charcoal sky was lit up for a second, allowing the man to see the scene more clearly. Sighing deeply, he produced light with the tip of his magical wand. Obviously, the explosion had happened during a reunion of the clan. He could still see the decorations, the dishes, the white tablecloths. On the corpses of the children, the women, and the men, touched all alike by death and blood, he could see the tartans, emblems, jewelry, ribbons and other clothes of sort that they all were to this kind of event.

Lost in his morbid fascination of the victims, the wizard didn't see his companion approach him from behind.

"Al, I've informed the authorities, let's take the girl with us, she needs to rest and to see a Mediwitch, not the prodding questions of the Aurors and of the Ministry officials. Tomorrow, we'll discuss what will happen to her with the guys who take care of that kind of thing…"

"I'm her godfather, Abe, I'll make sure she's well cared for, but you're right, let's take the girl home."

The other man, knowing his brother actually wanted to take in the girl added nothing but a grim smile appeared on his face as he hoped (against everything his experience was telling him) Albus Dumbledore would take care of the 7 year-old daughter of his friend, Ewan McGonagall.

The wizard with the half-moon spectacle made his way to the girl and tenderly took her very small hand in his.

"Minerva, Little One, it's time to go"

"Go where? There's no one of the clan left. There's no one to… take care of … everything" she answered, her lovely teal eyes lowered.

"Little One, you need to see the Mediwitch, then to rest. I'm bringing you to Hogwarts, so you can do both of these things. Tomorrow, we'll see what will become of you."

"Will I stay with you?"

"I don't know, Little One, anyway, now is not the time to decide. As I said, you need to be checked out and put to bed."

She didn't answer but put both her arms around his neck, burying her face in his fluffy beard. Then, without a sound, the two of them vanished, leaving the wizard's companion alone in the room, waiting for the authorities to come.

**A/N 2: **Well, I hope this wasn't too bad and that you found it interesting enough to at least leave a review (please guys, I know it's just the prologue, but… need your opinion ^^')


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Hi guys! I hope the Prologue did catch you interest, here comes the first meeting of our two major characters ^^

**Chapter I:**

It was in the most banal way that she had met him. Banal, at least for students of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: in the Hogwarts Express, the 1st September. It was the year 1938, she was beginning her third year and had not so long ago been reunited with her friends after the holidays. They were exchanging their summer experiences, memories and remembering old jokes. They were also speaking about the beginning of term and the options they would take.

They were having fun and made quite some noise hence they didn't see the "giant" 11 year-old boy opening the door before someone absentmindedly turned their head and gasped, startled by his presence. Silence came and the boy's cheeks took a tomato shade of red. The five sets of eyes pointed right on him were making him decidedly uncomfortable and he had resolved to retreat to another part of the train when a girl with teal eyes and long black hair held in a ponytail simply said in a clear gentle voice:

"Hi! My name's Minerva McGonagall, and this is Augusta Kennell, Thomas Longbottom, Poppy Pomfrey and Alastor Moody"

The two girls, the first, an hazel eyed brunette and the second an ice blue eyed blond girl with a fair complexion said "Hi". While the brown-eyed brown-haired boys, in the gruff voice of thirteen year old boys interrupted in the rant tale of their adventures simply noded before asking: "Hey, you're a first year, aren't you? What's your name? Where do you think you'll be sorted?"

"Oh! Merlin's beard, guys! the poor guy isn't even sitting that you're already prodding him of questions!" exclaimed Augusta.

"Yeah! Help him put his things in place before you grill him!" added Poppy.

Minerva made the guys slid to the right and have the girls sit on their side before she levitated his things and put them in place.

"There, all done! Come, you can sit here" she said, padding the empty space beside her.

"Oh erm thank you" he whispered, his already red face getting redder and redder. "Erm, I'm sorry to have disturbed you but all compartments are taken and…"

"Sooo seems I was right! He IS a firstie after alll!" exclaimed Moody.

"Erm-"

"Ooooh! Leave him be, Moody"

"Raah, come on, McGo! I mean, he seems pretty comfortably sat, can't we grill him now?" asked the mischievous boy.

"Yes, but…"

"I'm in first year, my name is Rubeus Hagrid and I'd like to be in Hufflepuff" He said very quickly, his still red face like a beacon of red light on one of the year's last sunny day.

To the ironic smiles of the boys, Minerva whispered to him: "Well, It's nice to meet you, Rubeus. I'm sure you'd do well in Huhhlepuff. They're kind and work very hard." Her tentative right after this simple sentence had him smile a full smile radiating so much joy to have been somewhat accepted by a group that it was difficult for the others not to nearly be blown away bit it.

The others smiled too. Thus did he join them for a long conversation that would last the whole journey. On the verge of separating, when Ogg, the groundskeeper asked the first years to follow him, they told him they could count on them if he needed any kind of help.

"And don't worry about the sorting, Rubeus, I'm sure you'll be great" whispered Minerva, her hand softly pressing his arm, her eyes lit up by her soft smile.

**A/N 2: **There, To Be Continued as they say… I hope it was ok and please, leave me a comment… hum, by the way, the characters may seem (a bit) OOC at times (or all the time) this was not my intention, I'm really trying to stick to their character and the idea I have of them^^


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter II:**

At that time, what had seemed incredible wasn't his sorting into Hufflepuff, it was his size. The following day, she'd made a few researches and had learned he was a half-giant but she had decided she didn't really care, he seemed like a great guy and had made a few friends in no time. It had made her a bit jealous and sad, as she had felt he wouldn't need her help after all, but above all, she felt she had lost a potential friend. But halfway through the year, before the Christmas holidays, she was proved wrong…

It happened as she was leaving the quidditch pitch, after a thorough end quite tiring training with the rest of the team. She found them a few meters away from the pitch, Rubeus' face was red and he was babbling to a band of four Slytherins to leave him alone. among them, she recognised Riddle and a few first years who had recently joined his little band. She really couldn't leave them do that to him, even if it would be five against two, or one if you counted out poor Rubeus who was shaking like the proverbial leaf. Indeed, when the others had left, she had decided to stay and practice a few more moves for the next quidditch match. She was quite talented but she'd just joined this year and had never really practiced the different moves a lot.

Minerva put down her broom and made her way to the group right before her, her wand drawn out.

"Hey, Riddle! Are you so desperate that you now have to attack a first year at five to one to show "how strong you are"? You pathetic little slime!"

"Stay out of this KittyKat! He annoyed my friends in potions class with his stupidity, I'm just showing him who's the boss, here" answered Riddle, slowly drawing his wand.

Unfortunately for him, Minerva was now furious and he would have to abandon his prey, were he to remain alive and achieve his dreams of grandeur. The others Slytherins, sensing the danger, began to retreat quietly. "Hey! Where are you going? No matter! I can take Kittykat just as…"

"I didn't think we're past last name basis, Tommy" she spat.

It was at this moment that Rubeus Hagrid recovered from the shock of the precedent events and broke Riddle's jaw with a punch that left him unconscious for a little while.

Until this day, nobody has ever discovered the exact reason for that uncharacteristic display of violence. Some think he really didn't like Minerva to be laughed at, others just believe the tension of the last twenty minutes just had to be released one way or another. It had the effect of making the girl who had come to his help laugh, and of making Riddle swear he would take his revenge one day.

"Rubeus, are you alright?"

"Erm, I … well… I mean…" he babbled, blushing again. Under Minerva's pointed gaze, he finally whispered "Yes, I'm alright. You?"

Lifting an eyebrow, the girl just smirked a little.

"Erm, thanks, for, you know, coming to my help…"

"Oh, I think you would have stood up for yourself at one point, but I just couldn't let them, you know, attack you like that."

"Well, thanks, anyway."

They walked in silence for a few moments before his companion asked him:

"And other than those idiots annoying you, how's school? Do you have made good friends yet?"

"Yeah, I've got a few… friends, they're great, you know, but they're always working and studying and…"

"Rubeus, you don't work? And your homework?"

"Yes, I work, a little and I do the homework the teachers ask, but it's not great fun, not like reading about magical creatures and go near the forest to observe them and take care of them and…"

"Well, look at it this way, if you work hard enough, in two years, you'll be in your third year and you'll be allowed to chose options. And there is a Care of Magical Creatures class, you know"

"But… the thing is, I'm not sure I made for this school, you know, Minerva, there's so much I …"

"You mean, you didn't take time to work properly on the subjects, is that it?"

A simple nod answered her positively.

"How far behind the others are you?" she whispered in a sigh.

"Why are you…? I don't know" he answered, his large head down.

"Hum, well, tell you what, in three weeks the Chrismas holidays begin. We'll evaluate your level this week-end (it was a sunny Friday) and we'll make up classes to push you back to the level of the others."

"We?"

"Yeah, I'll tutor you, if you want. But you'll have to work very hard and concentrate when you're in class and after."

"Oh, well, ok" he said enthusiastically, his face glowing with his large grin. "I'll do everything I must, I promise"

And so, they had began to see each other three times a week. With Minerva's help, with the examples she was choosing to catch his interest (all had to do with magical creatures), with his renewed enthusiasm, Rubeus was able to find his way back to his comrade's level, laboriously, perhaps, but in the end of the year, he passed honorably all the exams.

**A/N:**Hi there, this is me again! I hope as usual you found this chapter ok, and whether or not you did, please, leave a comment ;) next chapter should be in Hagrid's third year, yeah, THE year, we'll see how they both react to the events, I still don't know if I will talk about the events of that year in detail or if I'll just be a lazy girl and just allude to them to leave everything to Hagrid being expelled… Well, we'll see… ^^


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter III:**

As long as he lived, Rubeus Hagrid would never forget this day, the 17 September 1940. Nothing could have warned anyone that the year 1940-1941 would be full of angst, of fear and despair. Indeed, the 1st September, it seemed this year would pass without anything particular happening. All students had spent a relatively good summer.

Some, like Rubeus, had spent it, for the most part, writing to friends and reading the most things possible on the option they were going to take. The young boy had himself chosen the course of "Care of Magical Creatures". No surprise there, of course, as any who was somewhat his friend would tell you. Indeed, ever since he was a young boy, animals had fascinated him. He couldn't even remember a time when he wouldn't ask his father to take a cat, an owl or a dog home so that he could take care of the injured little thing.

Others, like Minerva, had mostly spent time at their friends' places or inviting them at their home, talking, having fun, training in Quidditch and writing to friends… So, to everyone everything was normal and in order.

But this day, Rubeus would forever remember it as the one where everything began to go downhill…

He was sitting on the banks of the lake, quietly drinking a glass of fresh pumpkin juice while reading a book on the special care of unicorn foals, when his Head of House, Professor Hopkins came looking for him. It was silently that the boy, having immediately understood something grave had happened followed the equally silent teacher, after he had closed his book. Hopkins was embarrassed and sad, while Rubeus was absolutely terrified. Had he done something wrong? Had his marks dropped so much he would be expelled? Had something happened to anyone he knew? To any of his friends? To Minerva? To his father? His state of mind before entering the office was a blur and he would never remember exactly what he had thought of or which way they had taken.

As he entered, he felt Hopkins' hand on the top of his arm, as he saw Headmaster Dippet's grim face, Rubeus was petrified. He felt a sudden relief immediately followed by an ineffable sense of dread. The only reason he could have been called there, he thought, was that something had happened to his father…

"Mister Hagrid, Rubeus, … well, I very much regret that…. I have to tell you… Well, to be honest, I really don't know how to say this, where to begin…" began Dippet.

"Has something happened to Daddy?" asked the young boy, his face a mix of youthful hope, angst and uncomprehension.

"Actually…" Dippet interrupted himself and raised his head, his dull gray eyes meeting Rubeus' shining black one. He sighed and nodded to Hopkins.

"Rubeus, you'll need to be strong" said his Head of House.

"But… why?" Rubeus was getting scared more and more.

"Your father died this morning, an extremely severe case of Dragon pox" answered Hopkins.

Shocked, tears shimmering in his eyes, Rubeus fell down on a providentially placed armchair.

**A/N: **Well. this is it… Mr Hagrid's death… sooo, what do you think? reviewwww pleeaaaaase ^^


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